Hyderabad: A 16th century enclosure wall was recently discovered at the Qutub Shahi Heritage Park.
Retired director of ASI, K.K. Mohammed, who is now part of the Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC) that is restoring the heritage site, said, “The 243-metre long enclosure was built much before the tomb complex.”
The wall is up to nine feet below the current ground level at the heritage park. AKTC said that the wall would be restored and landscaping would be done.
Officials and conservation activists were given an account of the ongoing conservation works during a walk around the heritage site on Tuesday.
Speaking about the conservation work, Ratish Nanda, project director at AKTC, spoke about how removal of 20th century cement layers from facades of Sultan Quli Qutub Mulk’s tomb and Fatima Sultana’s tomb had revealed the 16th century plaster details, which are being restored.
“Conservation of all the 72 monuments and lanscaping of the 108-acre complex, including the Deccan Park area, are the two principal objectives of AKTC. This is a unique necropolis in this part of the world,” Mr Nanda said, adding that the arcade of the Badi Baoli would be rebuilt this year.
A requisition has been made to the Government of India to construct a Site Interpretation Centre that will house a permanent exhibition in the park and for landscape restoration effort. “We have requested for '85 crore after the Union budget announcement. We are yet to know how much funding the heritage site will receive,” said B.P. Acharya, principal secretary, Planning, Govern-ment of Telangana.
